A perfect example of out of the box thinking!!!

I read this mail some time ago and was very impressed with the ability of an individual to think differently. Well, if you dont think so, i must say, do read it once to reconsider your decision:-

"Some time ago I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
I read the examination question:
"SHOW HOW IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF A TALL BUILDING WITH THE AID OF A BAROMETER."
The student had answered, "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."
The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course and to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.
I suggested that the student have another try. I gave the student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics . At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one .. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on.
In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read:
"Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula H = 1/2 x a x t 2 , calculate the height of the building."
At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit.
While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.
"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer.
For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."
"Fine," I said, "and others?"
"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units."
"A very direct method."
"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g at the street level and at the top of the building.
From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated."
"On this same tact, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession".
"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows:
'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."
At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The student was Neil Bohr (known for quantum theory of physics & mechanics,hydrogen atom etc ) and the arbiter was Rutherford .
THINK DIFFERENT!!!!"

A Short Story

This is my first fiction story, hope you all enjoy!!!

Truth never seems to die so easily and so is the inevitability of death. Yes, I loved him. No matter what my beliefs were and to what extent would they fall in sync with others’ thoughts, I stood firm with them. He has been more than a friend to me; rather I simply adored him and wanted to spend my entire life with him. The adolescence of my age just did not give me enough time to judge between right n wrong, but the unconditional love for someone made me think of doing right whatsoever I could do at my end. I never happened to make many friends. To be liked by someone is something great; I was not even looked upon by others. People found me scary and other boys used to think of me as a secluded/unusual child. Even when I would want to play with them, I was shoved off and utterly ignored. Then there was the opposite sex, or the so called fair sex. Considering them as someone who would really like to listen what you want to deliver was something I always thrived upon. There were few who would listen to my tantrums, the others would simply push me away, but they did find a friend in me, but that again someone highly uncommon. The ubiquitous friendliness just did not sting me ever. We were a nuclear family, and nobody knew for how many generations would the principle of an isolated family continue?

My father has always been a middle class employee, just fighting hard to earn those two basic meals for the day. He could not ever find time for me, neither as a son nor as another individual present in his abode, even when I required at the so called ‘evolutionary’ stage. I used to wait for him at the courtyard anticipating his coming back home after a strenuous day at work and pick me up and feel rejuvenated on seeing a smiling cuddle of human lump in his hands. Alas, that was never meant to happen. There were financial crises strangling him with his arms criss-crossed in the ropes from which he couldn’t break free. Mother was another typical house-wife who shared the same space and time with me, but I would never be able to guess whether she supported me or loved me. I could not find a friend in her that I was in need of!!!
The days we spent there, I wished time could flow like a flash of a light and things suddenly changed, but in this world not all wishes gets fulfilled.

The story continued for a very long time, till one day, I got a chance to visit my grand parents. My grand-pa was so old that since my birth I always saw him the way he was now, as if some how, he had broken the code of life, preventing any further decay. I wasn’t much delighted as nothing gave me motivation to feel happy. He was old and ailing at times. And for having not spent much life with them, I couldn’t feel the same pain he was going through for the time. Life did show the other facet which was missing for so long for me at least. I found a friend in this small town, whom I loved and shared my feelings with as and when possible. He was my soul-mate, my companion, my caretaker and my partner I would anticipate for this short life. Time flew like wind and I could see myself sailing along in full throttle. We used to spend most of the time together except when I had to get back home and study.
The trip was a very eventful one, but it did not last long. And in a fraction of few nanoseconds, I started missing my love, my friend!!! After having spent best time of my life in grandpa’s small town, I decided to visit them again and come back again in near future. The place helped establish a strong bond with someone eagerly waiting for me. The impetus was to get back to someone whom I loved, who would always be waiting for me and would understand me what nobody from my family could ever do.
I started growing up in his company. He would treat me like nobody else ever did. He would adore me, caress me, feed me and play with me when I was with him. My grand parents were much elated to see me coming back to them again and again but were perplexed about this new craze. They wanted to discover my needs of making frequent trips to them when on contrary, their son don’t even get time to even call them up. But, I always kept myself free from all shackles of the real world. I tried keeping myself in sight of someone who could die for me. I never doubted my friends’ expertise at hand as compared to everyone else. My father did bring me to this world, but my friend made me learn the subtlety of life. I started enjoying every day and waited for new dawn to come and raised hopes to meet my friend, yet again.

Never did I realize that this small town would also find me uninviting one day. I was given a much discarded look by people around. There were questions like, “Why does he come so often here? Who is his friend here who loves him so much while nobody else does including his family?” The semi-urban used to ponder and wanted to save their kids from very shadows of mine. Except this lonely individual, nobody was ready to understand me. I was asked to come back home and wasn’t even sure whether the pressure would even let me go back to grandpa’s town again!!! What bothered me was my friend whom I loved so much and wanted to live my entire life with. I did realise my father’s plight and concerns but other than being sorry, I couldn’t do much when life has made me like that. As per my father, the need of the hour was to sit with my friend and chalk out a life that would prove good for me. But when he came to know about me and my friend, he remained in utter silence. I could comprehend his silence all in my favour, till the day I proved fatal with this take on life for someone. My father did advice me to make friends and start exploring life rather than putting up with one mate. But nothing could have changed me and it never did. I remained the same till I had my friend standing next to me.

Today, life has changed, times have changed, and so is my scary face become normal with growth, but one thing never changed and those are my thoughts and feelings. Yes, I had a rotten face since birth and nobody knew why. And what more I don’t have today is my mate, but his love, support and feelings would live with me forever. No matter what my father warned me about my grand-pa’s health, I stand no regrets and pray to God to bless me as the prodigy of just one individual in all my births and that is my very dear friend, my support, my life, and my companion, my old, ailing, no more Grand-father!!!

Romantic Poem

zindagi ka aangan tha suna,
is mein ek din ek nanhi kali khili,
andhere mein gum patange ko,
jaise door deepak ki roshini mili!!
rishte ki buniyaad thi pyar aur dosti par,
mar mitne ka ehasas tha,
ek dusre ke bina lagta tha dar,
milkar duniya se ladane ka abhas tha!!!
pyar kab junoon banaa, n jaan saka mera mann,
thithurta hai dil voh barish ki boondon se, voh pehli ghta, voh pehli pavan!!!
ishvar kii terah basi hai mann mein,
raat din sirf tera hi khyaal hai,
dukh ke pal badle ja sakte hain kabhi??
mar ne se pahle bas yahi ek swaal hai!!!
mann ne jise chahaa khud se jyada,
vo hii pyar udasii ki salakhon mein bandha hai,
hamesha hansane ka kiya tha jis se vaada,
voh hi chehra sookhe ansuon ki mitti mein dhansa hai,
saath bitaye pal nahin bhoolte,
yaadon kii chhaayien nahin hoti gum,
kahe shabdon kaa nahin koi prayashchit,
aye dost, saf mann kii vaani ko sun!!!
mila tha samudr ka anmol moti,
sunehra patthar samajh kar uss se khel liya,
jis kali ne diya baag ko rang,
us kali ko phoolon mein khilne se rondh diya!!!

Poem out of nowhere...

I'm still in pains,
just like rains,
either they do not shower,
or does so heavily that a minute is an hour!!!

Friendship

A medium sized word with a standard numeric of 10 characters, but with a lot more hidden within than a simple standard definition. As per Oxford dictionary, the meaning of friendship is “the state of being a friend; association as friends: to value a person's friendship”, but when we retrospect, don’t you all think it is definitely more than a simple association. Well, the answer is yes, and we do need to realize the gravity behind this relationship, the unconditional love hidden, the unspoken emotions splurging, the rock-solid faith, the anatomy is simply inexplicable to the core!!!

I’ve had great friends in the past, the ones whom u cannot part away so easily, the ones who were always there for you when you were looking for support, the ones who stood to defend you, not just with you but ready to sacrifice before you ought to!!! And this is a story of one of those many friends I would cherish to be with worth for my lifetime, for eons, for an eternity and for every happy n sad moment in my life. This is a friend, a foe, a critic, a mentor, an adviser, a mother, a baby, a care-taker, an inspiration, a lover, a supervisor, and what not. I could go about tagging her with innumerable synonyms but for a person for whom infinity is a limited space, what purpose would those countable synonyms achieve???

Ever did anyone see the facet of friendship in more than a million ways?? Have you ever noticed someone so close to you sharing with you all that information what nobody feels easy to share with?? Have you ever felt so helpless in finding your true friend in every other human being and start comparing?? Have you ever felt the presence of your best friend always with you 24*7?? If you answer yes, then this is a person who is definitely not just your best friend, but a soul-mate for a lifetime.

Some of the most profound and enlightening moments that truly describe this friend of mine as a person with whom I never connected worldly but internally are quoted here. Please consider the same for yourself, I bet, it would make you realize someone who is so dear to you, that you feel like being nostalgic and call him/her up and talk!!! You feel so heavy from within that there’s a sudden feeling that gives an impetus to remember your friend and wish prosperity and health for the individual.-

 Going for a roll/party/trip with a large group of other friends/colleagues and suddenly remembering your best friend who’s not there on the trip with you. Thinking how more enjoyable and fun loving this entire journey would have been had he/she been along!!!

 Feel his/her presence in every activity you do, every game you play in your trips/tours etc. and start missing her badly. This is when there exists an invisible chord of connectivity stronger than rest and next to the belief of existence of GOD‘s connection with you.

 Walking alone/appearing for an exam/test, would always make you feel the need of someone either walking with you pacing up or supporting you for all the hard-work you put in for the next big thing in your life.

 Looking for your friend, searching him/her in every human being you meet, in the crowd, thinking you must be out there somewhere!!! Looking everywhere from all corners of your eye, to all corners of vision, hoping to find your friend and give him/her a pleasant surprise.

 A sudden heart pumping at high pace just at the thought of seeing him/her one more time for the day/moment, knowing that you’ve already met sometime back.
 Feeling blessed to have encountered your friend and got chance to be with him/her and sending in the purest form of thanks to the LORD!!!

 Feeling honored to have received some task/assignment from your best friend who considers you as capable of solving/rectifying/completing it.
 A feeling of expecting every phone call to be from your friend when it rings, every door bell to be of your friend when it hits, every mail to be from this soul-mate of yours when you receive an email, and every conversation going on to be about your friend even if it is not linked in most bleak manner. Such a feeling makes you express from within the blessing and love for your friend who always thought about you and showed up via different forms like phone, door-bell, mails etc.

 Feeling of buying something and thinking about your friend whether he/she would also be needing/requiring this or not.
 Feeling of letting he/she know the earliest when there is something bad that happens to you.

Well, there are innumerable instances one can quote to define what friendship is. I’m lucky I’ve had very good, humble, caring and trust-worthy friends in my life, but my heart would always go down for one person in my life who has always remained more than a best friend!!! I would not want to thank her but God for creating such a great human being for the betterment of this world and as a greatest person in my entire life!!!